HC Deb 14 January 1985 vol 71 cc37-40W
Mr. Sheerman

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of unemployed persons have been out of work for a year or more and are aged (a) under 25 years, (b) over 25 years, (c) 25 to 44 years and (d) over 45 years; of the latter sub-groups, what percentage are: (i) male and (ii) female; of the latter sub-groups, what percentage are (x) married, (y) single, widowed, separated or divorced; of the latter sub-groupings, what percentage (1) have dependent children of 0 to 15 years and (2) do not have dependent children of 0 to 15 years; of all sub-groupings, what percentages are (aa) unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers, (bb) are not unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers; and of all sub-groups, what percentage have (A) an employed spouse, (B) an unemployed spouse and (C) an economically inactive spouse.

Mr. Alan Clark

[pursuant to his reply, 9 January 1985, c. 463–4]: The latest information, from provisional results of the 1983 labour force survey, is available from the following table. Information on the economic activity of the spouses of unemployed people is not available in the form requested.

Unemployed persons by age, sex and marital status, Great Britain 1983
thousands
Under 25 25 and over 25–44 45 and over All ages
Married Males
Total unemployed 101 827 475 352 928
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more 53 439 248 190 491
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with at least 1 dependent child aged under 16 42 266 210 55 307
Of which previously: Unskilled or semiskilled manual workers 13 71 57 14 84
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 14 100 80 19 114

Under 25 25 and over 25–44 45 and over All ages
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 15 95 72 22 110
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with no dependent children 11 173 38 135 184
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 3 42 10 32 45
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 3 81 16 65 84
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 4 50 12 38 55
Non-married Males
Total unemployed 611 312 204 108 923
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more 248 180 114 67 428
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with at least 1 dependent child aged under 16 95 14 12 2 109
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 21 3 3 — 24
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 15 4 3 1 19
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 59 7 6 1 66
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with no dependent children 153 166 102 64 319
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 42 45 28 16 87
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 33 44 25 19 77
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 78 78 49 29 156
Married Females
Total unemployed 89 421 305 115 510
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more 20 130 83 47 151
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with at least 1 dependent child aged under 16 8 68 59 9 75
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 3 12 11 1 14
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 2 17 15 2 19

Under 25 25 and over 25–44 45 and over All ages
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 3 39 33 6 42
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with no dependent children 13 63 24 38 75
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 2 15 6 9 17
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 6 23 9 14 29
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 5 25 10 15 30
Non-married Females
Total unemployed 389 188 116 72 577
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more 118 93 52 40 210
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with at least 1 dependent child aged under 16 51 23 18 5 74
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 7 4 3 1 11
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 10 6 5 1 16
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 33 14 10 4 47
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with no dependent children 67 69 34 35 136
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 14 14 7 7 29
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 15 17 10 7 33
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 37 38 17 21 75
All Persons
Total unemployed 1,191 1,747 1,100 647 2,939
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more 438 842 498 344 1,281
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with at least 1 dependent child aged under 16 195 371 299 72 566
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 44 89 75 15 134
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 41 127 103 24 167

Under 25 25 and over 25–44 45 and over All ages
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 110 155 122 33 265
Persons unemployed for 1 year or more with no dependentchildren 243 471 199 273 715
Of which previously: Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers 61 116 51 65 177
Professional non-manual or skilled manual workers 57 165 60 105 223
Armed Forces, occupation inadequately described 125 190 87 103 315

Source: 1983 Labour Force Survey.